About Me

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Leicester, United Kingdom
Thank you for viewing this blog. My name is Joshua, a recent BSc Geography graduate from Coventry University, now starting on a Geography PGCE at the University of Leicester. My main area of expertise is within the domain of physical geography, with particular interests in Geomorphology, Quaternary Climates and Environments, and weather, climate and climate change. An area that I am not so familiar to is biogeography, but this is an additional area I am keen to develop and engage with.

Purpose of this Blog

The purpose of this blog is to aid mine as well as others (teachers, students and the public) understanding and knowledge in the subject field of Geography, with particular emphasis on the human domain; specifically cultural geography. This is an area I know limited about, in comparison to my specialism, and an area that I have come to find neglected in school education (*explained below). Firstly, this blog will introduce the concepts of GEOGRAPHY, to give details to those with limited understanding and experience; to outline the complexity of this ever changing subject and field. Secondly, and introduction to cultural geography and its branches will be outlined, with some sub-division examine in more detail than others. This is based on what I feel is lacked in education and the curriculum. Finally, a list of resources and references will be presented, which can be used for KS3 and used for all exam boards at GCSE level.

It needs to be noted that cultural geography is multidisciplinary and multifaceted within the geographical field, so overlaps into other geographical disciplines. I have tried to keep it purely separated for the sake of this blog, but it can be used for addition disciplines.

*This statement is based on my interpretation of the National Curriculum (NC) and GCSE specifications, where some of the branches within cultural geography e.g. sexuality and space, children's geography, music and behavioural geography are not fully acknowledged or identified within the NC for geography or in GCSE/A-Level specifications. In all honesty, cultural geography seems to be side-lined and/or integrated within economic, development and population geography. I feel for people (teachers, students and the public) to fully understand the scale and magnitude of geography, they need to be informed of the different branches and sub division within geography/cultural geography; highlighting individual branches of geography, whilst at the same time, explain and identifying how the different branches connection and are in relation to one another. For example, a number of schools in Leicestershire in year 9 look at music festivals and there locations, but they fail to highlight the key concepts of geography within that topic. For example, that topic would include cultural geography in the form of musical, behavioural, sexuality and tourism geography, but these are not identified and explained, leading to narrow-minded approaches within society. No wonder people assume geography is just colouring in, volcanoes and rocks.

The different branches and sub-branches of cultural geography will be explain in due course.

Wednesday 28 August 2013

Culture: Religion

Religion plays a fundamental role in cultural development, as it forms the bases of an individuals or groups social construction.

What is religion?

Religion has been defined as a system of beliefs based on humanity's attempt to explain the universe and natural phenomena, often involving one or more deities or other supernatural forces and also requiring or binding adherents to follow prescribed religious obligations. Two identifying features of religions are they to some extent (a) require faith and (b) seek to organize and influence the thoughts and actions of their adherents. Because of this, some contend that all religions are to some degree both unempirical and dogmatic and are therefore to be distrusted (http://www.cultureandreligion.com/).

A culture in a religious context, therefore bases beliefs, values, customs, behaviours and artefacts around religion.

Why is religion important in a culture?

Religion is important because it provides a formalized structure for culture to be maintained. Religion was created from the established social practices within the respective community. The leaders within the community determined among themselves what would be appropriate social behaviours and conduct. They then established laws that gave support to these concepts, which were designed to promote morality and decorum within the society. God was used as the ultimate authority which could never be challenged and the resultant social/cultural contract is called religion.

Types of Religion (4 main ones):
  • Christianity (Christian/Catholic/protestant)
  • Buddhism (Buddhist)
  • Islam (Muslim)
  • Judaism (Jew)
Diversity:

There is a diversity of religions around the global, all possessing different attributes (beliefs, morals, etc). From a geographical point of view, this is important because it can dictate the migration of people, as well as politics in certain localities and countries. A generic overview of religion in a geographical context is listed below.
  • Northern Ireland and the migration of people into the UK/USA
  • Religion and environmental stewardship
  • Sharia (Muslim) Law and policy in the Middle-East
  • Religion and wider cultural change e.g. in regards to sexuality and gender (equality)
Religion has a massive presence globally in regards to social and cultural contexts as individuals and groups base their identities and life styles on religion. This will be touch later on in ‘models’. 

Map: Religion is everywhere, but on a global scale, a clear divide exists, based back to ancients times and human evolution.

 

I will keep this blog post short, as it can easily stray into religious education easily.
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